In My Spare Time Tuesday, Mar 31 2009 

Not that I have any lately with taking care of Doc, but when we were in the med center for week (which was supposed to be two days) and I’d read the book I’d brought, I amused myself when he was napping with the best the gift shop had to offer.  The book I’d brought with me was Hope McIntyre’s How to Marry a Ghost.

https://i0.wp.com/www.carolineupcher.com/images/carly-390-Marryghost.jpg

I’d read the first in this series, titled How to Seduce a Ghost and found the characters distinctive and original.   Plus, it was set in England, which I adore.  Her protagonist is a ghost writer who is almost a recluse, with an unusual boyfriend she can’t commit to, and a host of other people sprinkled in.  It was a good read and her debut.  This sequel takes place in the US on Long Island, where I grew up, so I should have loved it.  It also has a host of distinctive people littering it, but I found it to be less enthralling and bit rushed.  Still, I finished it.  And then went on to The Gift Shop Books:

The Death Dealer by Heather Graham.  This mother of five (5! when does she find time to write?) claims to have written over a hundred novels.  This one has mystery, sex, and paranormal events.  A quick, rush of a read.

Mariah Stewart’s Mercy Street follows Cry for Mercy, concerning private investigator Mallory Russo.  There’s romance, missing children, and murder in what the back cover calls “an engaging romantic PI thriller.”  It was.

Last and definitely the steamiest, was Scream for Me by Karen Rose.  This one topped out at 569 pages, unusual for a romantic suspense thriller.  It pairs a nurse trying to find her kidnapped cousin, taking care of said cousin’s little girl who witnessed the brutal beating and kidnap of her mother, and a very muscular Special Agent of the georgia State Bureau of Investigation who is battling demons of his own in the form of his murdering brother.  Or was his brother the murderer?  And how does that tie into this kidnapping and the subsequent bodies that keep turning up?  And the newsman up a tree?  Oh, I could go on and on but this was so silly I had to keep reading to see how she tied up all the loose ends.  In the space of less than a week these two fall in love, and have some of the best sex of their lives on a sofa, against a door, and oh yeah, in a bed, of all places.  What a hoot!  If you want pure brain candy that just keeps on going like the energizer bunny (or this special agent), give this one shout.  Just don’t expect Jane Austen~

What these all had in common was more-than-usual sex. Which, since I bought them all in a hospital, made me grin. And let me live vicariously. . . .yeah, sex, I remember that~

Why I still love Tom Hanks Wednesday, Mar 25 2009 

Tom Hanks has that boy-next-door quality I find so appealing.  I think he’s actually gotten nicer looking as he’s aged.

https://i0.wp.com/www.thehollywoodnews.com/artman2/uploads/1/tom_hanks.jpg

He’s not classically handsome, but there’s something about him in goofy roles or serious ones that has always struck me.  I like his diversity, that his wife has a career, too, and that they produce some things together.  It looks like a nice marriage from the outside looking in.

https://i0.wp.com/www.contactmusic.com/pics/m/charlie_wilsons_war_101207/tom_hanks_5065936.jpg

So it was a happy note I read in People last week, when some stars were asked about their Kindle machines:

Here is what good ol’ Tom had to say:

“I got a Kindle for newspapers and magazines, not for books.  Quite frankly, I prefer to buy books from my neighborhood bookstore.”

See, I knew I liked him!

(PS For those of you wanting to know: Doc is weight-bearing and today hobbled 300 ft in therapy!)

Sheesh! Friday, Mar 6 2009 

I can hear you saying.  She says she’s back and then whoosh, she’s gone again!

Just when I thought things were leveling out at home, Doc lost his balance and fell, fracturing his spine, or so we thought.  So we’re in the second of two hospitals this week, and I’m writing this after he had a bone scan prior to an operation to follow either tomorrow or Monday.  Good thing they did this scan, too, as the spine ultimately wasn’t fractured…his pelvis is, which doesn’t require surgery.   So I must give up my nice bed and two- TV room(Yes, TWO TV’s in the room) and head back in a day or so to the land of rural hospitals and pretzel-inducing chairs for a week before heading home.

To say Doc is  pissed frustrated would be such a gross understatement  I shouldn’t even go there.  The surgery would have relieved this new lower back pain, which now will take its own six weeks to heal.  The med center we are at, however, has the neurosurgery and orthopedics floor in the newest wing, so instead of sleeping in a lounger curled up like a pretzel, I’ve been stretching out in this chair thing that opens each night almost to the size of a twin bed.  And since he’s getting IV meds with the two points of pain now, he’s out for the count and we’re both getting the best rest we’ve had in 12 weeks.  Plus they have wireless here. . .

So when he’s gorked out resting, I’ve managed to read a Reginald Hill I’d missed.

https://i0.wp.com/static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Books/Pix/covers/2008/12/11/roarof140.jpg

The Roar of the Butterflies is one of Hill’s Joe Sixsmith series, the black, balding and middle-aged guileless PI who solves crime with his common sense and more than a stroke of luck.  He is the Everyman of crime, hopelessly in sex with a hot nurse who lives near him, and somehow managing to eke out a living solving crime.

This one centers around a poncey golf club, and is worth reading just to hear a main character try to describe the game to non-player Joe.  Different from Hill’s Dalziel and Pascoe series,  the sly wit and crafty plotting remain.  A delicious treat all around.

DESTINATION PROPERTIES

The preview before the visit.<ins class="bookingaff" data-aid="1815574" data-target_aid="1815574" data-prod="map" data-width="400" data-height="300" data-lang="xu" data-currency="USD" data-dest_id="0" data-dest_type="landmark" data-latitude="40.7127753" data-longitude="-74.0059728" data-landmark_name="New York City" data-mwhsb="0"> <!-- Anything inside will go away once widget is loaded. --> <a href="//www.booking.com?aid=1815574">Booking.com</a> </ins> <script type="text/javascript"> (function(d, sc, u) { var s = d.createElement(sc), p = d.getElementsByTagName(sc)[0]; s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.src = u + '?v=' + (+new Date()); p.parentNode.insertBefore(s,p); })(document, 'script', '//aff.bstatic.com/static/affiliate_base/js/flexiproduct.js'); </script>

Auntiemwrites Crime-Mystery Author M K Graff

Award-winning Mystery Author on books, reading and life: If proofreading is wrong, I don't wanna be right!

Lee Lofland

The Graveyard Shift

Sherri Lupton Hollister, author

Romance, mystery, & suspense she writes...

Liz Loves Books

The Wonderful World of Reading

The Life of Guppy

the care and feeding of our little fish

dru's book musings

Reading is a wonderful adventure!

MiddleSisterReviews.com

(mid'-l sis'-tǝr) n. the reader's favorite sister

My train of thoughts on...

Smile! Don't look back in anger.

Emma Kayne

The Department of Designs

K.R. Morrison, Author

My author site--news and other stuff about books and things

The Wickeds

Wicked Good Mysteries

John Bainbridge Writer

Indie Writer and Publisher

Some Days You Do ...

Writers & writing: books, movies, art & music - the bits & pieces of a (retiring) writer's life

Gaslight Crime

Authors and reviewers of historical crime fiction

Crimezine

#1 for Crime

Mellotone70Up

John Harvey on Books & Writing - his own & other people 's - Art, Music, Movies, & the elusive search for the perfect Flat White.

A thrilling Murder-Mystery...

...now being made into a radio drama

Past Offences: Classic crime, thrillers and mystery book reviews

The best mystery and crime fiction (up to 1987): Book and movie reviews

DESTINATION PROPERTIES

The preview before the visit.<ins class="bookingaff" data-aid="1815574" data-target_aid="1815574" data-prod="map" data-width="400" data-height="300" data-lang="xu" data-currency="USD" data-dest_id="0" data-dest_type="landmark" data-latitude="40.7127753" data-longitude="-74.0059728" data-landmark_name="New York City" data-mwhsb="0"> <!-- Anything inside will go away once widget is loaded. --> <a href="//www.booking.com?aid=1815574">Booking.com</a> </ins> <script type="text/javascript"> (function(d, sc, u) { var s = d.createElement(sc), p = d.getElementsByTagName(sc)[0]; s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.src = u + '?v=' + (+new Date()); p.parentNode.insertBefore(s,p); })(document, 'script', '//aff.bstatic.com/static/affiliate_base/js/flexiproduct.js'); </script>

Auntiemwrites Crime-Mystery Author M K Graff

Award-winning Mystery Author on books, reading and life: If proofreading is wrong, I don't wanna be right!

Lee Lofland

The Graveyard Shift

Sherri Lupton Hollister, author

Romance, mystery, & suspense she writes...

Liz Loves Books

The Wonderful World of Reading

The Life of Guppy

the care and feeding of our little fish

dru's book musings

Reading is a wonderful adventure!

MiddleSisterReviews.com

(mid'-l sis'-tǝr) n. the reader's favorite sister

My train of thoughts on...

Smile! Don't look back in anger.

Emma Kayne

The Department of Designs

K.R. Morrison, Author

My author site--news and other stuff about books and things

The Wickeds

Wicked Good Mysteries

John Bainbridge Writer

Indie Writer and Publisher

Some Days You Do ...

Writers & writing: books, movies, art & music - the bits & pieces of a (retiring) writer's life

Gaslight Crime

Authors and reviewers of historical crime fiction

Crimezine

#1 for Crime

Mellotone70Up

John Harvey on Books & Writing - his own & other people 's - Art, Music, Movies, & the elusive search for the perfect Flat White.

A thrilling Murder-Mystery...

...now being made into a radio drama